Bayer declares FM on products from Texas site

19 September 2008 11:18[Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--Bayer MaterialScience has declared force majeure for a large part of its production from its Baytown, Texas, plant in the US in the wake of Hurricane Ike, the company said on Friday.

“Although precautions were taken in good time, so that Bayer MaterialScience’s production facilities in Baytown were virtually unaffected, the current deficiencies in the infrastructure make it difficult, if not impossible, to supply the site with raw materials,” the Germany-based chemicals company said in a statement.

The force majeure would affect the polyurethanes (PUR), coatings, adhesives, specialties (CAS), and polycarbonates (PCS) business units as well as the inorganic basic chemicals segment, it added.

Hurricane Ike damaged or destroyed vast swathes of the infrastructure in the Houston, Texas, region at the weekend.

Railroad tracks, harbours, roads and other supply channels, as well as some of the energy supply systems, were all affected, Bayer said.

“At present it is impossible to foresee how long the production stoppage will last. The company is however confident that the damage will be repaired in the coming weeks, and that any temporary losses in sales can be made up,” it added.